Chickens loseing feathers on back and shoulders

[ludicrous]

Hello

For a while I have had this chicken that had missing feathers on her back and wings and those spots were red and inflamed. I never thought much of it as I thought it would just pass and go away. Well its been over two months and it still has not passed plus I am starting to see signs of it happening on the other chickens. This is bad.

Here is the original chicken with the problem:

Though you cannot see it, her back is the worst. The top of her head is bald too. (I could not get her to come out of her nest box as she is extremely broody right now

)

Here are some other chickens with the starting signs:

I'd say about 60% of the flock of 27 chickens have this. They all behave normally and act as though there is no problem at all. I also found out that they also have scaly leg mites if that can be connected with this problem. I also have five roosters.

Please help!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Do you have a rooster?


Have you looked them over very carefully for lice during the day, and mites at night?

 

[ludicrous]

Yes, I have five roosters (too many) and no, I have not examined them for lice or mites.

 

[teach1rusl]

Have you checked around the base/shafts of their vent area feathers and under their wings for other mites? And I've not done it myself, but have read that you can go out with a flashlight to check at night for a certain mite that doesn't live on the chicken, but in the bedding and the wood of the roosts, and then they attack while the chickens are roosting and night and then retreat again.
Also, since you didn't mention a rooster, I'm presuming that it could not be rooster related (overmating)???

 

[teach1rusl]

Okay...I just read that you have five roosters. Based on the location of the missing feathers, my money would be on the roosters overmating the hens. But you still need to check for mites. If it's the roosters, you need to pen them up separately (or at least most of them), or buy some chicken saddles for your poor hens. If they're this bald and still being mated, chances of the skin actually being torn are probably pretty high.

 

[ludicrous]

we do have some mite poison for chickens, should I sprinkle it around the coop?

EDIT:
Yikes! Overmateing sounds harsh, but it could be the problem. The do that very often...

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Well...as I said, my money is on overmating. But you should actually dust the chickens with the powder...loosely wrap something over their faces, and really dust them down, making sure the powders gets down to the skin.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Most of the damage does look like Romantic Roo Ruin.

A saddle can be very helpful, as can reducing the number of Roos or at least the Roos who are not gentle. I have a couple saddle for my Roo's favorite hens.

They will regrow feathers upon molt.


But also check for mites/lice, you can treat these bugs with Sevin Dust (5%) that can be found at home improvement/garden stores (Lowes in our area carries it, but not Home Depot). Just dust everyone really well, clean and dust the coop also. You want to dust the birds once and then again in 10 days to kill any bugs that have hatched since the first dust.

Your scaley mites can be treated with vaseline - rub the legs down with it a couple times a week for a month or so. The scaley mites will die and new scales grow.

 

[ludicrous]

Thank you very much teach1rusl and HorseFeatherz NV. I'm glad to hear that it is probably a minor thing, I will follow your advice and see what happens.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I think you have too many romantic roosters.